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🤥 Plagiarism

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Poetic qualities

Here's a list of poetic phrases in Book of Mormon sermons that can be found in religious literature published before 1830. The text of the Book of Mormon itself is anachronistic and clearly demonstrates that it's a 19th century creation.

Active LDS members have a hard time letting go of the Book of Mormon because many of the sermons seem special. But upon close examination, many of the most famous verses, including scripture mastery verses, contain phrases that Joseph would have heard in his religion saturated environment.

I'm not suggesting that Joseph deliberately copied from these sources when composing the Book of Mormon but clearly this type of language was swimming around in his head. These are phrases not found in the Bible so they're uniquely late 18th or early 19th century word pairings.

  • "And such is the mighty change wrought in his heart..." Robert Hawker (1826)
  • "And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart." Alma 5:12 (1830)

 

  • "Every natural man is an enemy to God, as he is revealed in his word" Thomas Boston (1820)
  • "...the natural man is an enemy to Jesus Christ and all his offices." John Wesley (1827)
  • "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam..." Mosiah 3:19 (1830)

 

  • "And such is the mighty change wrought in his heart..." Robert Hawker (1826)
  • "And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart." Alma 5:12 (1830)

 

  • "My soul hungered and thirsted for more of God" Francis Asbury (1786)
  • "...my soul hungered and thirsted after Christ, and prayed my dear Lord to draw me." Henry Tanner (1811)
  • "And my soul hungered, and I kneeled down before my Maker" Enos 1:4 (1830)

 

  • "...see it is natural for it to bring forth works of righteousness." Robert Barclay (1817)
  • "...and exciting thee to bring forth works of righteousness all the way to heaven." Ambrose Serle (1801)
  • "...prove the hearts of man, and bring forth works of righteousness and goodness." John Bayley (1824)
  • "Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire." Alma 5:35 (1830)

 

  • "...and brought them out in open rebellion against God; for the carnal mind is enmity against God" Ebenezer Erskine (1798)
  • "they are in open rebellion against God" Francis Downing (1795)
  • "They are all in a state of open rebellion against God" Presbyterian Church Pamphlet (1821)
  • "The behavior of the people of Israel after the report of the spies was open rebellion against God." Sarah Trimmer (1811)
  • "...and is it no harm to live a life of open rebellion against God...? George Burder (1818)
  • "...the same cometh out in open rebellion against God" Mosiah 2:37 (1830)

 

  • "we cannot wonder if he is swallowed up by the deepest and most lively sense of his own guilt." Alban Butler (1798)
  • "the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt." Mosiah 2:38

 

  • "Will God dwell in an unholy temple" Isaac Penington (1761)
  • "So you think that Jesus Christ can dwell in an unholy temple." Edward Wesley Hare (1816)
  • "...for he dwelleth not in unholy temples" Mosiah 2:37 (1830)

 

  • "Mortals, join the hosts above, now to sing redeeming love" 1826 Hymn
  • "...and with them on high eternally to sing redeeming love" Joseph Swain (1819)
  • "To Jesus all the notes belong, I sing redeeming love" 1812 Hymn"
  • Yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love." Alma 5:9 (1830)

 

  • "...when the Word was made flesh and dwelt in a tabernacle of clay" The Jewish Expositor (1821)
  • "Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle of clay..." Thomas Coke (1803)
  • "...wherein the soul sojourns, some while, as in a tabernacle of clay, be once dissolved, we have a glorious mansion..." Joseph Hall (1808)
  • "...and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay" Mosiah 3:5 (1830)

 

  • "Hence we need the efficacious operation of the Holy Ghost, to our consciences, to apply the atoning blood of Christ, in order to remove the guilt and condemnation from our minds." George Phillips (1804)
  • "O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins." Mosiah 4:2

 

  • "Here is a miserable man who is in danger every day of being swallowed up in the bottomless gulf of wo and misery." Jonathan Edwards (1830)
  • "That load of wrath which lies on him, that gulf of misery into which he is plunged in his natural state." Thomas Boston (1810)
  • "How we are plunged into a gulf of misery!" Thomas Boston (1767)
  • "Gulf of misery and endless wo" Helaman 5:12 (1830)

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